Thank you for all the kind comments yesterday on my fire fly memories. That title and the story was still stirring my heart through the evening so I slept on it and started working on a bit of a verse this morning. I hope it may be a blessing to you both by a glimpse of childhood memories as well as a few aches and pains of aging. May you each have a blessed weekend and time of worship with brothers and sisters in your church.

And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. John 10:23
Catching fireflies in little jars was such fun
Summer evenings we played on in the night
And watched them in wonder as they flashed on and off
And Time froze as we laughed at their sight
Till out on the porch Granny rang the ship’s bell
Telling us it was time to come in
And we traipsed to the door and got ready for bed 
Still holding our jars in our hands

And I try to remember those long-ago days
And the joy of the flashing so bright
When the absence of friends who have long disappeared
Casts shadows creeping over that light

But off in the distance comes the sound of the bell
Of God’s promise of a river of life
And the leaves of the trees that grow there on its banks
Are for healing from sorrow and strife
And I see Jesus standing out on Heaven’s porch
His voice rings as He calls me to come
To leave to the past all those things that won’t last
And to joyfully start my way home!


Ringing Heaven's Bell by Peter Caligiuri 
copyright 2021 all rights reserved